Wednesday, April 20, 2011

APRIL 17 Meeting Re DISCOVERING MOTHS

Four busy members folded their wings for a few hours to rate John Himmelman's guide to Discovering Moths. Host joy served us sparkling cranberry juice whilst our imaginations circled round these fascinating night-time 'jewels.'

Moth enthusiast Cheryl brought a collection of moth specimens and Vicki the "fishdoc" shared a Sphinx moth cocoon she found while clearing her garden for spring. Check out one of Cheryl's blog posts on moths here. Member comments:

Diane Sylvester: Himmelman sounds like a fun guy and I'd love to attend one of his moth trail events. While much of the book has been easy reading, I would like to have seen drawings or photos of the moths on the pages where he was discussing them to make them more intimate. I found the drawings a little dark to discern much detail(or is it my eyes?) but there needed to be more of them. I have a end wall of my house that attracts many moths and I have photographed many of them. Using this book, I have identified some moths in my photographs. I have the W.J. Holland book Himmelman references and I also find it extremely difficult to use since the moths I see are in their natural poses, not the specimen poses I find in that book. Based on Himmelman's recommendation, I will probably try to locate Charles Covell's book A Field Guide to the Moths of Eastern North America. Moths are a very complicated subject and as he said, it doesn't get the press that butterflies do.

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The Potomac Valley Nature Writers' Group (PVNWG) formed in early 2009 to promote the art and appreciation of nature writing. This genre of literature explores and celebrates the natural world and our relationship within it. PVNWG welcomes both readers and writers to participate.